Politics and Participation. An Alternative Approach to the Study of Politics and Government in Senior High Schools. Occasional Paper No. 4.

This paper is a working model for a new one- or two-semester civics education program for high school students. The paper is divided into four major sections. Part I treats existing civics programs and explains how the Politics and Participation Program seeks to correct two general problems facing the schools and civic education - 1) it attempts to develop a civics course that enables a student to develop some explanatory generalizations about the operation, organization and interaction of a political system; and 2) it seeks to allow the student to participate in the school community for the clarification of abstract political concepts through concrete experience. Part 2 presents the analytical framework that guides the course content and explains how the major political concepts of the framework may be used to answer relevant questions; Part 3 focuses on the basic learning activities of the program; and Part 4 sets forth a general outline of the course. The purpose of this new course is: to offer students a systematic framework for studying various political questions; to teach them the skills necessary to use the analytical framework; to use the school as a laboratory for practical experience; and to give them opportunities to participate responsibly in the life of the school. (FDI)